1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a coupling assembly having a seal between a pair of mating members. More specifically, the present invention relates to a flange and seal assembly in which an annular sealing ring and a flanged mounting component are coupled together as a single self-contained unit or component.
2. Background Information
In piping systems, two pipes or tubular members are typically coupled together utilizing a four part coupling assembly. This four part coupling assembly typically comprises a pair of flanged components, a seal disposed between the flanged components and a coupling device securing the two flanged components together. In this typical coupling arrangement, the seal is a completely independent part from the two flanged components. In this type of configuration, the seal can inadvertently fall out from between the two flanged components. Thus, sometimes the installation of the connection between the two pipes can be difficult and/or time consuming. One attempt to solve this problem has been to produce sealing rings that are slightly out of round such that the sealing ring is slightly deformed when placed in a recess formed in an axial face of one or more of the flanged components. However, such an arrangement does not positively retain the seal to one of the flanged components. Thus, there is still a possibility that the seal will fall out during installation of the coupling assembly.
The above mentioned coupling assembly is often used in high pressure and high temperature piping systems. Numerous types and shapes of seals have been employed to prevent fluid from escaping from a joint in ducting systems or other components. Coupling assembly in the fluid path or in components having high pressures often use pressure energized seals or sealing rings between their joints or components. These sealing rings are resilient due to their material and their geometric design so that the sealing ring fills the gap between the adjacent members. Examples of sealing rings which are particularly well suited for applications described above, include U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,836, U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,843 to Hailing and U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,593 to Swensen at el.
In view of the above, there exists a need for an improved flange and seal assembly which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
One object of the present invention is to provide a flange and seal assembly that is relatively simple to install.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a flange and seal assembly that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a flange and seal assembly that can be used to replace an existing seal and an existing mounting component.
The foregoing objects can basically be attained by providing a flange and seal assembly comprising an annular sealing ring and a mounting component. The annular sealing ring includes a first seal end with a first annular sealing surface facing in a first axial direction and a second seal end with a second annular sealing surface facing in a second axial direction. The mounting component includes a mounting end with a mounting flange extending outwardly from the mounting end, and an annular seal receiving recess formed in an axial end surface of the mounting end, and a retaining element extending from the mounting end. A portion of the sealing ring is axially retained between the retaining element and the axial end surface of the mounting end such that the first axially facing sealing surface is located adjacent an axially facing seal contacting surface of the seal receiving recess.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment of the present invention.